40th anniversary of Rufino Contreras’ death memorialized

CALEXICO — The 40th anniversary of the fatal shooting of farm worker Rufino Contreras was memorialized on Saturday at Mountain View Cemetery with a procession, prayer, song and chants of “Viva Rufino.”

In homage to the Feb. 14, 1979, funeral procession in Calexico that had been attended by thousands, Saturday’s smaller procession made its way from the cemetery’s entrance to Contreras’ nearby grave site.